Red Deer, Alberta to Babb, Montana

July 29th, our last day in Canada as we head to Montana. It was neat to see that the grass on the sides of the road and in the median is mowed and rolled into hay bales. Once again, hay, canola, and windmills highlighted the landscape.






Cardston, Alberta (hometown of Fay Wray!) is a cute town that looked like a huge used-car lot when we entered because of all the colorful pendants strung across the road - all the way through town.






Chief Mountain is the spiritual center of the Blackfeet Nation in Montana. It impressed us for miles and miles as we drove south through Alberta.


Waiting in line to re-enter the United States. Because we stated that we were carrying firewood, we were inspected by employees of the US Department of Agriculture, who were very thorough in going through the truck and the trailer. The only thing they took was a piece of bark. We were glad to see how careful they were, as bark is apparently an important vehicle in the spread of the various insect infestations that are killing miles and miles of trees throughout Canada and the US.








We stayed in Duck Lake Campground, which is run by Patty and Dale Fenner of the Blackfeet Nation. He is an archeologist who looks for dinosaurs and found the most complete (99%!) juvenile T Rex in the United States.


Bill with Patty's loyal companion, Fatboy:


Wildflowers and a small red grasshopper in the campground:




White pelicans at Duck Lake (one wearing a toupee):






We met Bob and Lynn Allison of Florida and their dog, Sweetie, in the campground. They are sailors and shared wonderful stories with us. They've enjoyed sailing to various islands in the Caribbean and also sailed up the Inter-Coastal Waterway, with a little open water around Delaware and New Jersey, and back through the States and into Canada. Lynn is a nurse, and Bob has been involved in the automated (manufactured) housing market for many years. He has designed a self-contained housing unit, with an integrated system for catching and using rainwater, that could seriously help the situation in Haiti, where lack of housing and clean water are still huge problems since the earthquake in January. Here's hoping the units are approved, manufactured, and shipped soon!

Charlie Lake, British Columbia to Red Deer, Alberta

Still traveling east and south on the Alaska Highway, we left Charlie Lake, British Columbia on July 27. Canola fields along the way:


An interesting business proposition:


Dawson Creek, British Columbia, where the Alaska Highway begins:






Wooden grain elevator and train car at the Dawson Creek Visitor Center:




Mile 0 designators:








Entering Alberta, where we saw plenty of windmills and gas wells.






Fox Creek, Alberta was notable for us only because our fifth wheel hit a low overhang at a fuel stop. It tore the rubber roof of the Sabre in several spots and smashed the bedroom's (plastic) sunroof. We're thankful that the only damage to the gas station was the removal of a face board and gutter, which landed in the bed of the truck.


Bill patching the roof and gaping hole over the bedroom with good ol' duct tape:


Edmonton seemed to be our best bet for having the Sabre repaired, so we stayed on the road until almost 11 p.m. when we spotted a Wal-Mart in Spruce Grove. We were exhausted, so Bill pulled in and we went right to bed. It was our first time staying in a parking lot, and we were almost stuck there. Bill woke up at 5 a.m. to the sounds of car doors slamming, looked out, and saw that we were being parked in by folks hopping a bus to a casino. He got out just in time to ask the driver of the last brick in the wall if he would move his van. The guy grudgingly did so, and Bill pulled us out of there with the bedroom slide still extended. It was quite a start to the day!

Canola fields ran for miles and miles before and after Edmonton. We read that the seeds are shipped to Asia for processing into oil.


Western RV Country in Le Duc, south of Edmonton was extremely disappointing. The guy at the service desk told us there would be a wait of a week to 10 days, as that's how far out they were scheduled. Bill asked what they could do for folks 3000 miles away from home with a hole in the roof. He said he could add us to the schedule, but it would probably be 10 days before they could do anything. Bill said it was an emergency, couldn't they do something. No, they couldn't. Bill asked if he could at least have a tech look at the patch job Bill did with duct tape to see if it would hold. No, all the techs were busy, but we could schedule the repair and they'd look at the patch job on that date - and then it might be longer than 10 days if they have to order any parts. So, Bill said, there's basically nothing you can do for us? And the guy said the most he could do was give us the name of another repair station, but they're all busy, too. Karen told Bill we should just leave because the guy didn't care at all and we were just wasting our time. Then the guy says, "Well, if she's going to be like that, I'm not going to help you at all!" Karen said, "You're already not helping us at all." This guy was a total jerk.

Thank God for Western RV Country in Red Deer. It was like night and day compared to the sister shop in Le Duc. As luck would have it, Rick Flint, the service manager in Red Deer, is the head of all three area shops, including the one in Le Duc. He was not happy to hear about the way we were treated in Le Duc and said that he would look into it. We believed him. He had us in the service bay immediately. An inspection showed that the entire rubber roof would have to be replaced, which is a very long job, so he suggested that they repair everything so that we could make our way home without further damage. And that's what they did. He also sent our insurer pictures of the damage and explained that full repairs would have to be made when we got home. What a wonderful experience! It made Karen cry (in happiness), after the bad experience we had earlier.

Our hero, Rick Flint:


Vern, who worked on the Sabre:


Mike


The greeter:


Within five hours, we were on our way, happy campers once more. We stayed the night in Red Deer's Lions Park Campground, which was very nice. Bill enjoyed a long conversation with a man who volunteers countless hours leading search and rescue teams.


White pelicans flying over our site: